By Paul E. Robinson on February 12, 2015
Tchaikovsky wrote ten operas, but only two of them, Eugen Onegin and Pique Dame, are performed with any regularity in opera houses outside Russia. His last opera, Iolanta, composed just before the Pathétique symphony, has recently received a good deal of attention, thanks to Anna Netrebko’s interest in it. In addition to being the subject of this new recording starring Netrebko, the opera is currently in production at the Met and will be screened Feb. 14 (encore/Feb. 18) as part of the Met’s Live in HD movie theatre series. Finally, tenor Sergey Skorokhodov will appear in a Dallas Opera production of Iolanta conducted by Emmanuel Villaume (April 10-18)...
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on January 29, 2015
Ukraine has often been in the news lately, and for all the wrong reasons. It is not easy sharing a border with Russia, especially after gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia under Vladimir Putin resents Ukraine’s aspirations to move closer to the West and has acted militarily to crush them. First it was Crimea and now it is eastern Ukraine. NATO has been acting to support Ukraine but whether its efforts will be enough remains to be seen...
(Continue reading)
By Jay Caron on January 28, 2015
I am always skeptical of what I would call “fusion” composition; I would briefly describe this as taking the harmonic language, rhythms, or instruments of some non-western culture, or the elements of a popular music genre, and unceremoniously shoving them into the context of western art music. This could perhaps be analogized as mixing water and oil; things that are, on their own, valuable, but which resist amalgamation. The result can often leave me wondering whether greater care could have been taken to present each separate element in its best light. It is a technique dangerously prone to superficiality...
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on January 15, 2015
Most music-lovers and performers too take it for granted that they know pretty much what Brahms should sound like. No need for the historically informed folks to get involved. In fact, however, there are still issues to be considered and we do need to look at period performance practice. Neither of these new sets claims to be “historically informed” but one in particular – the Chailly with the Gewandhausorchestra – shows that a lot of thinking and research has gone into the preparation and rehearsal process...
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on December 16, 2014
Here we have two complete cycles of the 15 Shostakovich string quartets. How to choose between them? Actually, anyone seriously interested in this music needs have both of them.
The Beethoven Quartet cycle is practically self-recommending. The original members of the quartet worked together for the first time in 1923 as the Moscow Conservatory Quartet and regularly thereafter into the 1970s. As the Beethoven Quartet this great Soviet ensemble worked closely with Shostakovich for most of his life and gave the premieres of most of his quartets. The details of the relationship between Shostakovich and the Beethoven Quartet are well told by producer Jacob Harnoy in his liner notes. He quotes first violinist Dimitry Tsyganov on the subject of how they went about preparing the composer’s new quartets...
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on December 1, 2014
Just over a month ago the London Philharmonic and its music director Vladimir Jurowski gave a concert in Roy Thomson Hall that elicited rave reviews. The major work on the program was the Symphony No. 8 by Shostakovich. Clearly, Jurowski had a special affinity for the music of this composer. Here they are again, on a new CD on the orchestra’s own label, and again playing symphonic music by Shostakovich. And again it would be appropriate to reach for the superlatives.
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on November 26, 2014
In the spring of 2012 the Philadelphia Orchestra presented a “Stokowski Celebration” in the orchestra’s old home, the Academy of Music. The programs consisted of music associated with Stokowski, the longtime music director of the orchestra, and there was a well-curated display of Stokowski memorabilia in the lobby and on the orchestra’s website. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducted all the concerts and in one remarkable moment Stokowski “passed” the baton to Yannick by means of lifelike holograms on either side of the proscenium. A year later Yannick made his first recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra and it included several of the works played at the Stokowski Celebration.
(Continue reading)
By John Terauds on November 18, 2014
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on October 20, 2014
It has long been known that Dvořák’s New World Symphony was inspired by African-American and Native American music. And Dvořák himself mentioned Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha as another source of inspiration. But most musicians and musicologists were reluctant to be more specific than that. In recent years, however, the musicologists Joseph Horowitz and Michael Beckerman have tried to show that all of these elements, especially the Hiawatha story, can be linked to specific passages in the New World Symphony...
(Continue reading)
By Paul E. Robinson on October 14, 2014
How many orchestras does a man need? Yannick Nézet-Séguin is music director of three of them at last count and has close connections as a guest conductor with several others. No wonder he recently cancelled several weeks of concerts to grab some rest. But then it is a whole new experience for a Canadian conductor to be in such demand. It has never happened before and 39-year Yannick Nézet-Séguin can be forgiven for finding it difficult to say no...
(Continue reading)
